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Think about it, if you weren’t spending chunks of every day on social media would you walk through the world differently? If you didn’t know that so-and-so was pregnant or if that guy from high school just got his dream job, would you think about your own situation differently? Would you maybe be a bit more happy with exactly where you’re at instead of always feeling like you need to do more?In general, people only share their best moments on social media. The fun announcements, the perfect moments. Often they share their mini mess-ups, like an attempt to do something that they found on Pinterest, because it shows that they are trying to be that “perfect” person. If they share that they are going through a hard time or that something bad happened, it is usually coupled with proof that it was not their fault or that they worked hard to make it not happen.So, the question becomes, with all of this focus on positive announcements and hard work that goes wrong, does social media distort our reality?

The answer is yes. Social media distorts our reality as we all are pushed to focus on nothing but the positive. We shun people who are sad and have the audacity to share it. We don’t want to see that, think about it or be bothered by it. All of these “perfect” and “positive” posts tends to make individuals compare themselves to only the best seconds in someone’s day. Literally SECONDS, not even a whole 5 minutes. A picture of the kids playing together, doesn’t show the fight that ended only moments before. A picture of a glass of wine and a plate of specialty cheeses doesn’t show that someone is feeling completely lost and alone as they watch Netflix and get drunk with no one to talk to and support them.It also leads to a fear of missing out or FOMO. We see all the photos are co-workers, friends and family members are posting of the AMAZING times that they are having and we feel the need to respond. We can’t help but ask ourselves why we don’t do more? Why don’t you try new things? You’ve always wanted to go sky diving right? Why haven’t you? Think of the epic post that would make! Especially if you got VIDEO of it and not just a photo. But no, you’re sitting on the couch watching some re-run and eating three day old leftovers you didn’t even bother to heat up.

I could go on and on about this, but I am going to close with this final thing: With the pressure to be positive all the time, we are taking away people’s permission to grieve. It’s okay to be sad that you didn’t get that job you wanted. It’s okay to be heartbroken when you are going through a break-up. It’s okay to be hurt when someone betrays you. If you say almost ANY of this on social media, you are setting yourself for a backlash. People will tell you to think positive or to be happy. Absolutely you should get there, but it’s okay to take time to be hurt, sad, heartbroken, angry or any other of these “negative” emotions. Grieving is an important part of getting through and actually healing, not just suppressing. Social media doesn’t allow for this. We cut off half of who we are and expect it to not cause any issues. Here’s the hard truth: IT DOES.Any amount of time spent on social media will affect your perception of the world around you. If you don’t actively work to combat the barrage of perfection and positivity displayed, it is likely that it will have a negative impact on your psyche. Take breaks. Don’t log on every day. Remind yourself that this is a small window into the world around you. Social media is like a peep hole in your door, not a panoramic view. Remind yourself that no one is perfect. It’s okay to go through hard times and it’s okay to be sad.